


Burning Morning

by Tornainbow



Category: Griffin Mage Trilogy - Rachel Neumeier
Genre: F/F, First Kiss, Fluff, Not Human, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-02-23
Updated: 2012-02-23
Packaged: 2017-10-31 14:58:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,697
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/345427
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tornainbow/pseuds/Tornainbow
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kes loves the desert, but it's not all that she loves.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Burning Morning

As a creature of fire, Kes didn't need sleep the way humans and other creatures of earth do, but she still required rest all the same. Instead, she spent most nights curled against Opailikiita. There were times that she was with Jos when she felt the urge, or if Kairaithin had whisked Opailikiita away for starlight lessons in magecraft, but tonight was like most nights, and Kes was lying on the ground with warm sand beneath her and Opailikiita's great wing blanketing her with heat. Kes had her head pillowed against the slim brown griffin's foreleg, the slightly gold barring of Opailikiita's feathers a dull wheat without the harsh desert sun.

Kes silently waited for the morning to arrive, grey-blue eyes fixed on the eastern horizon. She liked the peace and quite of night, the way it cleared her mind, but the rising sun would forever be her favorite part of the day. She doubted there was a single griffin—few creatures of fire, even—that felt otherwise.

Opailikiita shifted against her, breaking Kes from her trance. The griffin bent her head around to brush her beak against Kes' cheek. Kes turned her face into the caress, reaching up to trace her fingers along the small golden feathers above Opailikiita's eyes.

 _Kereskiita, I wish to show you something_ , Opailikiita's voice slid delicately against the edges of Kes' mind, and stone strong muscles rippled where Kes was pressed against her.

"Yes," Kes whispered without hesitation.

The world shifted around them, red sand and rock and the very sky blurring as Opailikiita moved them through the desert. When space and air became solid again, the eastern mountains were nothing but a tiny line in the distance. Kes looked up to see the glimmering stars, but they were blocked by a massive circle of rust colored stone, held strong and even by pillars that were twice the height of Opailikiita. The structure sheltered the mouth of a shallow cave, and though shaded from waning evening light, it was completely open to the coming dawn.

Kes smiled, rising to her feet as Opailikiita stood on all fours. "You've brought me here," Kes said. The corners of her eyes crinkled in pleasant surprise.

They had arrived at Opailikiita's place of solitude, where she could escape when she wished to be alone. If Opailikiita didn't have a change of heart, this cliff cave might become her place of nesting when she took a mate. Though many griffins created their nests together for safety and protection, Opailikiita would not need to. Her magic as a griffin mage allowed her to know if anyone or any creature trespassed into her sanctuary, for it was created and shaped from Opailikiita's very essence. The location was no secret from other griffins. They knew every inch of the desert, every grain of sand, but pride and honor dictated that none would ever stir her sands unless by invitation or great need.

It was not the way of griffins to say things like, "This is just for you." But that Opailikiita brought only Kes said as much.

Opailikiita walked toward the cliff edge. Kes moved to follow but stopped when Opailikiita gave her a fierce look over a feathered shoulder. She was content to wait while Opailikiita sat on her leonine haunches, as still as a statue with the tip of her tail flicking back and forth, belying the griffin's excitement. Beyond, the sky began to lighten from inky black to indigo. Faster and faster the tendrils of morning light appeared, brighter to all creatures of fire, they turned to blinding shafts of light. The sun continued to rise and Opailikiita became a hard silouette against its roaring intensity. The fire of the sun was never as powerful as it was when it first awoke. It filled Kes until it seemed that her body could barely contain its life, moving under her skin, and flowing through her hair until the blonde strands glowed. Her eyes became alight, but she not watching the sun.

Opailikiita glinted molten bronze, and the slight barring of gold looked like liquid sunlight. The air around the griffin shimmered, a metallic shading, and the shape of Opailikiita's silouette became smaller. It only took a moment, and Opailikiita no longer held the form of a griffin. In place stood the stature of a young woman, but Kes couldn't see the details of her features in the harsh sunlight.

"Opailikiita!" Kes gasped at her _iskarianere_ , smiling and joyful as any creature of fire could express.

The griffin, now human in form, turned at her name. She watched with the same familiar golden brown eyes as Kes approached her. One might say the griffin mage's skin was a deep earthen color, but where the light hit, her skin took on a metallic sheen. Her face was at once delicate and sharp, a tall, thin nose with curving cheekbones that flowed toward an angled jawline. Deep brunette hair fell in long loose waves around her shoulders, and down her back. Her eyebrows were dark too, though there was a scattering of gold in them. She wore no cloak as Kairaithin did, but her body was encased in tight fitting leather a few shades darker than her skin. It looked soft and supple, unaffected by the dry desert air that strived to suck the moisture from everything it touched. Her attire displayed her touch of griffin coloring: the buckle at her waist, clasps on her folded-over boots, buttons, snaps, and edged emboidery, all in gold. She had an unhuman beauty, though no creature of earth could explain exactly what made it so.

Kes took in every detail, soaking Opailikiita in like sunlight. She reached up to trace the curve of Opailikiita's cheekbone, heat burning against the pads of her fingers. "When?" she asked.

"Yesterday," Opailikiita answered in a smooth, smoky voice. "Kairaithin says I have yet to master the ease of shifting. Only with dawn's light have I succeeded."

Changing one's form was no small feat. It took many years for a griffin mage to learn the intricacies of creating a different appearance that was both coherent and consistent. Many more years were dedicated to mastering the ability until it felt like a second nature. With Kes nearing her eighteenth summer, Opailikiita had managed in a little over three years; she had barely come into her own power when the griffins had been driven from their desert.

"You're beautiful, my _iskarianere_ ," Kes said, her hand trailing down Opailikiita's neck.

Opailikiita was rigid, an unnatural stillness that no true human could manage. She was taller than Kes by a few inches, and with striking swiftness she leaned foward, so quick that if she was still in her griffin form it might have been a deadly slash of her beak. But she was not, and her lips pressed against Kes'.

Taken by surprise, Kes was wide-eyed and staring at Opailikiita. But she didn't pull away, and allowed her eyes to flutter closed. She leaned into the kiss, her hands tugging slightly, pulling Opailikiita closer. The caress of lips was short and chaste, but it burned hotter than the sun itself.

Opailikiita pulled back, head canting to the side with a bird-like tilt. "You did not expect that," she stated firmly though Kes could hear the question behind it.

"No," Kes said.

"Is that not how you show affection?"

"It is, but..." Kes trailed off as earthen human memories surfaced, vague and hazy. Differences between mere friends, lovers, and courtship rituals filtered through her mind, yet she could not grasp the importance of them.

Opailikiita was neither upset nor angry by the reluctance she perceived in Kes. "You always touch me so."

There were stronger, clearer memories of her hands stroking through the feathers on Opailikiita's neck, kisses pressed against a dangerous beak, and countless nights spent resting beneath dark brown feathers. They had been drawn to each other, loved each other even before Kes had fully become a creature of fire, and Opailikiita was the one whom Kes bestowed her unthinking affection. The griffin, a fierce being, would gently press her beak against Kes' cheek, nudge her head under the curve of Kes' arm, or rest her head in Kes' lap when they rested. They had always been achingly intimate.

Opailikiita turned her gaze east. "I do not have much time left. The sun is a short gift," she said. She did not yet have the power to keep her form once the peaking magic of dawn faded.

"Let's not waste it then," Kes whispered in the scorching morning light. She pulled Opailikiita down for another kiss.

They didn't rush or move with insatiable hunger, but drew each other in slowly. Opailikiita gathered Kes into her arms, pulling the smaller woman's body into her own until she was nearly lifting Kes from the ground, pale bare toes digging into the sand. Kes deepened their kiss, her tongue sliding along Opailikiita's bottom lip. Opailikiita canted her head, mouth parting to return the caress. When they separated, fire flickered at the edges of their teeth and the tips of their tongues.

"The sun," Opailikiita said. She didn't break her gaze from Kes', but stepped back to make room.

Kes could feel the roaring intensity of dawn begin to pass. She didn't need to look at herself to know that she was filled with light. The blue of her eyes would be completely washed out by fire, and her skin seemingly translucent with how deeply she glowed. Flames danced along the bright strands of her hair before the wind whisked it away.

Opailikiita's form grew as she shifted back into griffin, a seamless change in the space of a heartbeat. The brown and golden griffin looked out over the desert. _Shall we fly?_ Opailikiita asked with one large, dark eye fixed on Kes.

Kes grinned with delighted ferocity, and the air glinted around her as she made the change.

 _We'll shatter the sky with our burning wind_ , Kes said. She flexed her golden leonine legs and leaped into the air, her white and gold-touched wings sending a flurry of sand and flame scattering behind her.

**Author's Note:**

>  _iskarianere_ \- title that implies a distinctly intimate bond between griffins  
>  Kereskiita - Kes' griffin name  
> Kairaithin - Kes and Opailikiita's griffin mage teacher


End file.
